Stoke City manager Mark Robins has defended his decision to make wholesale changes to his team following a 3-0 defeat against Bradford City last night.
The Potters have enjoyed an excellent start to their Championship campaign, winning all three of their games thus far. After failing to finish in the top half of the table since suffering relegation from the Premier League in 2018, victories over Derby County, Sheffield Wednesday and Southampton see them sit top of the league, with a renewed optimism appearing at the bet365 Stadium.
If their league form has been excellent, their performances in the Carabao Cup have been in stark contrast. They limped through the first round against League Two’s Walsall, with a penalty shootout win required after a lacklustre 0-0 draw. However, that was a much-changed side, which Robins also opted to take into last night’s clash.
Robins Defends Selection
Although Robins’ team were eventually successful against Walsall, they were completely outclassed by Bradford. The Bantams are flying in League One and showed their class by storming to victory in Staffordshire.
It must be said that this was a Stoke team that had 10 changes from Saturday’s win over the Saints, a decision which the former Coventry City boss has defended. Speaking to the media, he said:
“This competition is mainly that at this stage of it. You’ve got to get minutes into people against a really good side who are desperate to go and win. You’ve got to be equally hungry to go and compete in a game and we just weren’t there, we weren’t at it.
“They ended up getting that extra energy and boost, backed by a vocal support who were really good for them tonight. We couldn’t give our supporters anything to sing about.
“It was actually very similar to the Walsall game. We were really lacklustre. We were lucky we went through then, and Jack (Bonham) being the hero on the night and saving a penalty and scoring one masked a really poor performance. We know what you’re likely to get, hoping for more but understanding performance levels aren’t going to be quite there because of the team I picked.
“I could have gone different. I could have gone and picked my strongest side but that would have been ridiculous. That’s my stance on it because we have a 12.30pm kick-off on Saturday which is massively important to us. I’m not saying this wasn’t and I don’t want to do this. All the games we play are important. I’m not sat here saying we weren’t bothered about it because we were, but I’ve got to park it and move on from this as quickly as we can and prepare for Saturday.”
Writer’s View
Robins’ stance is understandable given the task on hand in their Championship quest. The Carabao Cup is a competition that they were never likely to win, nor is it one that they will be too fussed about pulling out a ‘glamour tie’ in later rounds. After years of disappointment, it is imperative that they focus on their league exploits. No disrespect to Bradford, but Saturday’s clash with West Brom is much bigger.
